5.  The applicant was born in 1970 and lives in Lyubertsy, Moscow Region.
6.  On 23 May 2001 D., who was the director general of a commercial bank, was kidnapped by four men. They took him to a park outside the city where they took the cash they found on him, his watch and mobile phone, and the keys and documents for his car, a Toyota Land Cruiser. Later the same day one of the kidnappers stole D.'s car from the garage. The kidnappers then released D., who reported the incident to the police.
7.  On 14 March 2002 the applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of involvement in D.'s kidnapping. According to the applicant, the police stopped the car in which he was travelling with two other persons. The applicant was asleep in the back seat of the car. He had no shoes or jacket on. The policemen pulled him out of the car, put his arms behind his back and handcuffed him. They then pushed him to the ground and kicked and punched him. His ear started bleeding from one of the blows.
8.  The police operation lasted over three hours. The temperature was no more than 20C. The applicant was not allowed to put his jacket or shoes on. His feet were numb with cold.
9.  The applicant was then taken to a police station to take part in an identification parade in front of D. The applicant waived his right to be represented during the parade. D. identified him as one of the kidnappers. According to the applicant, the identification parade was carried out with numerous procedural violations. In particular, it was held at night between 2.25 and 2.45 a.m. D. was not asked before the parade for a description of the alleged kidnappers; D. saw the applicant, who was handcuffed, in the hallway of the police station before the parade; two other participants were easily distinguishable from the applicant (M. was nine years older and six centimetres taller and K. was eleven years younger). Besides, the applicant had a swollen face and was wearing creased and dirty clothes.
10.  On an unspecified date the applicant was charged with kidnapping, robbery, extortion and organising a criminal gang and placed in custody pending the investigation and trial.
11.  On an unspecified day the Moscow City Court started hearing the case in respect of the applicant and three other defendants.
12.  D. testified during the trial. He identified the defendants, including the applicant, as the people who had kidnapped him. He also denied having seen the applicant in the hallway of the police station before the identification parade. D. claimed that he had a very clear recollection of the face of his kidnappers.
13.  The applicant claimed that on 23 May 2001, the day D. was kidnapped, he had been at his friends' place at a birthday party. His alibi was confirmed by his mother and six other persons, who testified on his behalf in court. He further asked the court to obtain from the investigator the photographs that had been taken by his friends at the party on 23 May 2001 and the negatives. The court dismissed his request as unsubstantiated.
14.  On 30 June 2004 the Moscow City Court found the applicant guilty of organising a criminal gang, robbery and kidnapping and sentenced him to ten years' imprisonment. The court relied on D.'s testimony, which was supported by the statements made by other witnesses, including the police officers in charge of the investigation phase, and forensic evidence. As regards the evidence of the witnesses called by the applicant, the court rejected it as unreliable and contradictory to the other evidence examined in the course of the trial.
15.  The applicant appealed, alleging that the City Court had unlawfully refused to examine the photographs that confirmed his alibi and that D. had erred in identifying him as one of the kidnappers because of his poor eyesight and the stress he was under. He maintained his innocence, and referred to the witness statements confirming his alibi.
16.  On 28 December 2004 the Supreme Court of Russia considered the matter on appeal. It acquitted the applicant on the charge of organising a criminal gang and reduced his sentence to nine years' imprisonment. It noted that the City Court had properly admitted and assessed the evidence before it. The identification parade had been carried out in accordance with the applicable rules of criminal procedure, which did not prevent it being held at night if the circumstances of the case so required. As regards D.'s testimony, the court further noted that he had claimed to have a clear recollection of the faces of his kidnappers and found no reason not to believe him.
17.  On 25 March 2002 the applicant was placed in remand prison no. 77/2 in Moscow, where he was held until 25 February 2005.
18.  The Government provided the following information concerning the applicant's detention there.
Period of detention
Cell no.
Surface area (in square metres)
Number of beds
From 25 March to 7 April 2002
159
19.  The Government did not provide information concerning the number of inmates per cell for the periods from 25 March 2002 to 25 August 2004 and from 2 to 13 January 2005. As regards the period of the applicant's detention from 25 March 2002 to 26 December 2003, they referred to the destruction of the official relevant records due to the expiration of the statutory time-limit for their storage. They presented a copy of the list of the official records destroyed on 18 August 2006. The list included registers of incoming and outgoing correspondence, lists of the inmates discharged from the remand prison, personnel data, minutes of the remand prison administration's meetings, financial statements and registers of the inmates' complaints. The Government did not explain as to why the records concerning the applicant's detention from 26 December 2003 to 25 August 2004 and from 2 to 13 January 2005 were unavailable.
20.  According to the excerpts from the remand prison population register concerning the applicant's detention from 25 August 2004 to 2 January 2005 and from 13 January to 25 February 2005 submitted by the Government the number of inmates detained in the same cells with the applicant varied from fifteen to twenty-two persons in cells nos. 162 and 122 with the following exceptions: one day in November, eleven days in December 2004, five days in January and ten days in February 2005 the number of the inmates varied from twenty-three to twenty-seven.
21.  The applicant was not confined to his cell for the whole of the day. He left the cell to meet with his lawyer, relatives and the prison administration. He was entitled to one hour's exercise in the prison courtyard and had the right to use the shower at least once a week for at least fifteen minutes.
22.  All the cells in the remand prison were equipped with natural and piped ventilation which was in good working order. The average temperature in the cells was at least +180C during the winter and did not exceed +230C in the summer.
23.  At all times the applicant was provided with an individual sleeping place, bedding and cutlery. The cells were disinfected regularly. The lavatory was located some distance from the beds and the dining table. In cell no. 299 there was a 1.5-metre high partition separating the toilet from the living area of the cell. In cells nos. 122, 151, 153, 159 and 162 the toilet was completely isolated from the living area of the cell by a solid brick wall and a door.
24.  The cells where the applicant was detained were severely overcrowded. At the beginning, the cells housed at least eighty persons. From August to November 2003 that number increased to 120 inmates per cell. In 2004 the cells with a designed capacity of twenty-two persons housed thirty-five inmates instead. The inmates took turns to sleep. Apart from brief meetings with the lawyer and relatives and an hour's daily exercise, the applicant was confined to the cell for practically twenty-four hours a day.
The ventilation and heating systems did not work properly. The inmates smoked in the cell and there was no fresh air in it. It was very cold in the winter and stiflingly hot in the summer. The cells were infested with cockroaches, bedbugs and lice. The lighting was constantly on. The lavatory was very close to the dining table and offered no privacy. The food was prepared as if for animals.
25.  According to the applicant, he became ill after his arrest. He developed a fever and a bad cough and had pain in his ear. However, the prison administration refused to provide him with any medical assistance.
26.  As regards his state of health, the applicant submitted as follows:
“On several occasions I asked for medical assistance because of my deteriorating health. The doctor did not come even once... In 2002 my teeth started to chip away. The pain was unbearable. I asked several times for dental treatment (I could not sleep because of the toothache). Finally I was invited to the medical unit where they offered to fix one of my teeth (I was supposed to choose which one). At the time I had problems with fourteen teeth. [My] health was deteriorating. I practically lost the sight in my left eye and the hearing in one of my ears. My teeth continue to chip away and sixteen of them require medical treatment. I cough all the time... My relatives have not been allowed to send me medicine...”
27.  On 2 September 2002, in response to the applicant's complaint, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office asked the remand prison to organise a medical examination for the applicant with regard to headaches and deterioration of his hearing and eyesight. The medical unit of the remand prison responded as follows:
“In response to your request of 2 September 2002..., please be advised that currently the medical unit of [the remand prison] does not have a staff ophthalmologist or otolaryngologist. In order to examine the deterioration of [the applicant's] eyesight and hearing (if his allegations are true), it is necessary to provide us with the medical documentation concerning [the applicant's] eyesight and hearing prior to his arrest.
Please be further advised that [the applicant] undergoes a medical examination... twice a week and does not complain about his condition. His current medical condition is considered satisfactory. He is fit for detention in [the remand prison] and can participate in investigative and judicial proceedings.”
28.  According to the applicant's medical file, upon his placement in the remand prison on 25 March 2002, he was examined by a paramedic. On 4 March 2003 he received preventive treatment for tuberculosis. On 14 April 2004 the applicant received dental treatment described in the file as follows: “tooth preparation, treatment, application of arsenic paste for forty-eight hours, temporary filling. Advice.”
29.  From 16 June to 14 November 2005 the applicant served his sentence in correctional colony IK-7. Then he was transferred to correctional colony IK-3 where he was detained from 14 November 2005 to 23 April 2007. On 23 April 2007 he was transferred to correctional colony IK-4.
30.  On 18 April 2008 the Tosno Town Court of the Leningrad Region authorised the applicant's release on parole.
31.  According to the certificates issued by the administration of the correctional colonies where the applicant had served his sentence, during the time of his confinement there he did not seek medical assistance with regard to the alleged deterioration of eyesight or hearing or dental problems.